CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When Sammy's at PlayhouseSquare closed suddenly last summer, the space it vacated left a hole right in the center of the city's increasingly dynamic theater district. Now that void will finally be filled.

Bin216, a casual wine bar-style lounge featuring small plate dining and a variety of seating areas, is undergoing refurbishment and is expected to open in May. PlayhouseSquare Association will also remodel and expand the RJF President's Club, a restaurant and lounge open to Donors Circle members, in the theater complex.

"Bin216 will be a throwback sort of spot -- very art deco in style, but I expect to hear the sounds of Ray Charles and Buddy Holly pouring through the speakers. Very classic," says Scott Kuhn, chef-co-owner of Driftwood Restaurants Group, which will operate the new 106-seat restaurant.

The area is well populated with other fine-dining spots, including Zack Bruell's Cowell and Hubbard; District; and spots ranging towards Public Square on Euclid Avenue (notably, Hodges, another Driftwood Group property) and of course the East Fourth Street "restaurant row" area.

Restaurateur Scott Kuhn at Hodges, one of the downtown Cleveland eateries he operates with partner chef Chris Hodgson.Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer

"This will be a really more casual environment with non-traditional seating," Kuhn adds. Couches, club chairs, high-tops and a few conventional restaurant tables will intermingle throughout the room.

The menu, Kuhn says, will consist of about 12 to 14 small-plate savory dishes, designed for sharing, plus a handful of dessert items.

"Foodwise, we want everything easy-to-eat -- things like deviled eggs, fondue-for-two, devils-on-horseback, plates of lots of little crab cakes," he says. Most dishes will be priced in the $8-$14 range, with a few snack items for $2-$4.

No reservations will be accepted at Bin216, and no plans for lunch service are on the horizon, Kuhn adds.

"We'll be opened late -- from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., six days a week [closed Mondays, but also open earlier on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate matinee audiences] which will give theatergoers another option before or after their shows -- which should also give the PlayhouseSquare area a whole lot of added energy," Kuhn says.

The move has economic advantages for PlayhouseSquare and Driftwood Restaurants as well.

In revitalizing the theater district, PlayhouseSquare officials and Kuhn agreed that by taking over food-service operations in the former Sammy's and President's Club -- spaces adjacent to Driftwood's already successful restaurants, creating a so-called 'triangular model' -- could create greater overall efficiency.

Summer is a traditionally slower season for the theater district, Kuhn says. At the same time it's a perennially busy season for weddings, graduations and other events that Cibreo Privado, an expansive private catering space that now occupies the former 14th Street Theater, aims to accommodate.

"By relocating our catering operations to PlayhouseSquare, we're able to move employees to the various properties as the demand arises," Kuhn says. "By doing this, we can create an employee pool that's top-notch throughout the district -- and the busier the district is, the better for everyone downtown and in the region."

Chris Hodgson (shown here on the set of "Food Network Star," a reality series in which he competed) partners with restaurateur Scott Kuhn in Driftwood Restaurant Group. Hodgson and Kuhn will co-create the menu for their next restaurant, Bin216, with a chef who is yet to be named.Courtesy, Food Network

No chef has yet been named to Driftwood's latest project, Kuhn says, though he says he intends to name someone from the organization's current ranks. He and business partner Chris Hodgson (Hodges, HodgePodge) expect to come to a decision by mid-March.

"It just seems right to hire from within," Kuhn says. "The growth we've had is really because of the hard work of all those employees. We owe this all to them."

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